Judge May Order Ford Recall
By DAVID KRAVETS=
Associated Press Writer=
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ A California judge said he may order a
recall of as many as 2 million Ford Motor Co. vehicles over
concerns that the vehicles are prone to stalling.
The judge's preliminary decision came late Tuesday in a lawsuit
first filed in 1996 on behalf of 3.5 million current and former
California owners of Ford vehicles in model years 1983-95. The
lawsuit claims the vehicles stall because an ignition device was
mounted in the wrong place.
The ruling is the latest blow for the Dearborn, Mich.-based
automaker, which is currently involved in this month's recall of
6.5 million Firestone tires, which were standard equipment on some
Ford trucks and sports utility vehicles. The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration is investigating 62 deaths that may
be linked to the tires.
Ford denies any ignition defects and said no injuries have
resulted from the alleged faulty devices. Company spokeswoman Susan
Krusel said the automaker would ask Alameda County Superior Court
Judge Michael Ballachey to reverse his preliminary decision at a
Sept. 28 hearing in Oakland.
If the judge makes the order final, Ford is confident it would
be overturned on appeal, Krusel said.
The suit challenges Ford's placement of the thick film ignition
(TFI) module, which regulates electric current to the spark plugs.
In 300 models sold between 1983 and 1995, the module was mounted on
the distributor near the engine block, where it was exposed to high
temperatures.
Plaintiffs lawyers have said Ford was warned by an engineer that
high temperatures would cause the device to fail and stall the
engine, confirmed the problem in internal studies, and could have
moved the module to a cooler spot for an extra $4 per vehicle.
Consumer advocates estimated that a recall would cost Ford $70
million to $250 million, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
``I think it's a huge victory. The judge studied this
information for five years now,'' plaintiff's attorney Jeffrey
Fazio said Wednesday.
The judge's preliminary order harshly criticized how Ford dealt
with the federal safety agency and agreed with the plaintiffs that
the company withheld information.
``Ford's strategy, clearly established by the credible evidence,
was: 'If you don't ask the right question, we don't have to answer
with what common sense tells us you want to know,''' Ballachey
wrote.
Ford denied it concealed critical information from the agency
and said its vehicles were no more prone to stalling than any
others and posed no hazard.
``We're very concerned for our customers because modifying the
ignition switches in the way the court suggests would do more harm
than good,'' Krusel said. ``The modules have lasted over 100,000
miles on average ... and in 18 years have never caused an
accident.''
After complaints from customers and dealers about stalling, Ford
recalled 1.1 million 1984-85 vehicles in 1987 to repair their
ignition devices. Federal safety officials investigated in 1984,
1985 and 1987 and found no safety defects.
The judge is considering three remedies for the plaintiffs as
part of the recall, Fazio said. The judge may order Ford to take
the module off the distributor and remount it off the engine;
replace the module with one from 1999-2000 module vehicles; or
order a vehicle buyback.
A jury trial of the same lawsuit ended in a mistrial in 1999.
Greg
95 Dakota Sport CC v6 5spd
Rahway NJ
ICQ: 283886
http://24.6.89.18/dakota/dodge.htm
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